A miscellany like Grandma’s attic in Taunton, MA or Mission Street's Thrift Town in San Francisco or a Council, ID yard sale in cloudy mid April or a celestial roadmap no one folded—you take your pick.

Monday, August 24, 2009

The “Humbling Bird”

Hummingbirds, or “humbling birds” as Eberle would have it, are a common visitor here in the summer months. I’ve never been positive about this, but based on the range given in bird guidebooks, I suspect they’re Calliope Hummingbirds—a nice name!

We do feed them, & Eberle’s the usual hummingbird feeder—for unknown reasons she tends to the hummingbird feeder while I usually take care of the seed-type feeders—just happened that way. She has found that when the feeder is empty, the hummingbirds will start flying around her when she’s working in the garden, & I’ve noticed since she’s been gone that if a hummingbird is flying up to the kitchen window or the front door, the feeder is no doubt empty. They have us pretty well trained.Just before Eberle left on her trip, she got some cool pix of a hummingbird at the feeder, & also something you don’t see too often—the hummingbird resting in a tree. Can you find him/her in the pic at the top? The solution is at the bottom of the page!

10 comments:

I am utterly useless when it comes to "spotting" something in a picture. These are nice shots though and I CAN see the one at the feeder, at least.I can't seem to attract them in my yard for very long.Right now I have a flock of marauding grackles who have polished off all the seed in a brand new feeder. I've tried banging a wooden spoon against a metal bowl, but they keep swooping back in to steal the goods.

We don't have much problem with grackles; the red-winged blackbirds & the cowbirds are pretty dominant, but the sparrows & other birds do get in. The finches really like the thistle seed, & the bigger birds don't tend to compete for that.

If you enlarge that last pic you should be able to see where I circled the hummingbird.

We used to feed the hummingbirds until we planted Trumpet Vines; now we no longer need to feed them. This year, we planted a mix of wildflowers that are supposed to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, and it really does. We've had more of them than ever before. I love to watch and hear them hover.

TFE: I actually love to watch crows & magpies especially. We have a fair number of them around here, especially in the fall thru early spring. Up in the mountains you see them year round.

Karen: Yes, they go to various flowers, too, but in our case we can't see the hummingbirds feeding at the flowers too well from inside the house. The feeder is strategically located for viewing thru the kitchen window.

I had to go to your cheater pic to find the hummingbird, I'm afraid. We get lots of hummingbirds here, as well - mostly migrating through, but I gather we have some permanent residents, as well. I love watching them and listening to their buzz. They are quarrelsome little things, though.

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